WEC confirms Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Karalexis for WEC 48 prelims

A lightweight fight between Anthony Pettis (8-1 MMA, 2-1 WEC) and Alex Karalexis (10-4 MMA, 4-2 WEC) first reported by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) last week is now official for WEC 48.

WEC officials today announced the fight.

It’s part of the preliminary card of WEC 48, which takes place
April 24 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. The night’s main card,
including WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Urijah Faber, airs
on pay-per-view.

As we initially reported in February, Karalexis was expected to fight Zack Micklewright (7-0 MMA, 1-0 WEC), though the WEC rookie had to pull out of the bout due to a broken ankle.

After dealing with injuries, Karalexis returns to the cage for the first time in a year. The Massachusetts native had been scheduled to fight Kamal Shalorus at this past November’s WEC 44 event, but a broken hand forced Karalexis out of the matchup. A three-time UFC veteran and cast member of the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Karalexis has earned WEC wins over Greg McIntyre, Josh Smith, Olaf Alfonso and Thomas Denny. He has also suffered a pair of losses in contests with Bart Palaszewski and Ed Ratcliff.

His new opponent, Pettis, looks to build off a March victory over Danny Castillo at WEC 47 that earned him the night’s “Knockout of the Night” award. Prior to that fight, Pettis made his WEC debut with a perfect 6-0 record. He made it 7-0 with a submission victory over Mike Campbell at WEC 41 but then dropped a close split-decision defeat to Palaszewski at WEC 45 for his first career loss.

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